Monthly Archives: December 2014

If you’re not aware of this website yet, I highly recommend you check out Velominati. If you have any interest in bike racing, current or historical, you’ll enjoy this site. And what they’re most famous for, is The Rules.

I’m quite certain The Rules are mean to be tongue-in-cheek to some degree. But, there are some rules that I take to heart. Specifically, Rule #4;

It is, absolutely, without question, unequivocally, about the bike.

They’ve just described me here.

So, just about any time I ride my bike to a shop, I take some time to consider which bike I should ride. Specifically; which bike will reflect best on the type of cycling enthusiast I am. Now I used to work in a shop, and I can tell you, we were snobs. There’s just no way around this – day after day of fixing Treks and Norcos leaves you with very high standards for what a cool bike is.

In four years at Redbike, there was really only one time that a bike brought the shop to a halt. A Calfee carbon singlespeed, custom built with no clear coat over the tubes. It looked like it was made from pencil lead, and I still don’t know what kind of brakes it had – I’ve never seen another set like the ones on that bike.

Now, I needed some part, so I figured I’d hit Pedalhead on my way home from work. If Redbike wasn’t my shop, Pedalhead definitely would be – they’ve been around since 1996, and they’re just solid guys.

Dekerf Team ST

I could have taken my Bridgestone, or maybe my Vitus road bike, but I figured what would make the best impression, was my Dekerf. After I bought whatever I was there to buy, the owner, Chris, and I started talking bikes, and he asked what I was riding. He looked it over, and seemed to be impressed.

When he mentioned the old RaceFace Turbine cranks, I pointed out that they were 180mm Turbine cranks. He looks at me with a big smile and says; “You’re a total bike nerd aren’t you?”

If you go looking for pictures of vintage bikes, you’ll invariably find the drop bar MTB. The old WTB Dirt Drops were the bars of choice, as were crazy tall stems and special shifter mounts. A set of which I just saw on eBay for $300 by the way.

Cunningham MTB.

Usually you’d see this setup on the classic, Northern California pioneers’ bikes. Like Salsa, or Cunningham.

But, this was just never something I liked. It doesn’t appeal to me based on looks, or function. It just feels like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

I’ve written about this previously, but it’s time to get everything in the same place.